Lovers Make Love Right Now
by inkjacque
Summary: After spending a night together and having consummated, Karin is afraid she might have made a mistake whereas Hitsugaya believes that he has never been happier to give himself to Karin willingly. Three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this a long time back and it has been sitting in my folder for a long time. While I was looking through potential ideas from my Hitsukarin drafts for inspiration for 'How do you explain us', I found this. **

**Just so you know I am working on the 4th Chapter for How do you explain us. It is very long, well to me. Still working on it. Right now I am working on How do you explain us and a request about Hitsugaya bringing Karin to meet his Granny. But I think my main priority will go to the request first.  
**

**As for this story, I read it again and I loved it. I want to show the after thoughts of Hitsugaya and Karin's relationship after they have given themselves to each other and how they cope with the realization that they both are responsible for each others body.  
**

**It might be a three-shot, I have yet to decide on the length of it. **

**Without further adieu, enjoy!!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Hitsugaya rolled in his futon and let out a deep groan. He opened his eyes a wee bit as he felt a breeze brushed his bare back. He brushed his hand behind him to feel for that warm body he went to bed with. But she was not there. Or it felt that way. Hitsugaya slowly rolled over and noticed Karin was not in bed. The blanket had been pulled opened to reveal an empty space next to him. Hitsugaya opened his eyes wider as he searched for his bed companion.

"Karin?" He called out. Propping himself up with his elbows, still lying down, Hitsugaya scanned the room and noticed his room door was open.

"Karin?" Hitsugaya called out again, louder. Still there was no response.

Hitsugaya got up from his futon. All he had on himself was his dark blue boxers. He bent down and picked up his robe that lay next to him. As he walked out of his room, he slid it on.

Suddenly he heard the turning on of shower. He looked across the corridor toward the bathroom. If Karin was in there, it sounded like she was taking a shower at what seemed like three am in the morning. Hitsugaya dragged his feet down the corridor and placed his palm on the bathroom door. He pushed it open and found Karin standing still in the shower with water running across her naked skin. On the floor next to the tub was his other robe, partially drenched, that he gave her to wear.

"Toushirou!" Karin exclaimed at the sudden realization of his presence and grabbed a towel from the rack next to the shower tub to cover her naked body. She quickly wrapped it around herself despite the fact the water was still running. Karin felt a steady heat warm her cheeks.

Hitsugaya looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?" Hitsugaya asked her with a great deal of confusion in his voice.

She was about to open her mouth and answer him the truth when she held back.

_A…a…_Karin thought as she held her gaze with Hitusgaya's. It did not take a genius to know.

Hitsugaya sighed and reached for the bathtub knobs. He turned the shower off but Karin remained where she was. He watched her hold onto the towel tight and bit her bottom lip. Her gaze dropped to the bottom of the bathtub. He could see the confusion in her avoiding eyes. The confusion of what she had done, what they had done.

"Do you want to talk, Karin?" Hitsugaya approached her but made no attempt to touch her just yet.

Karin inched back a little. She looked back up at him and noticed his bare chest and visible abs. His muscles stood out nicely and the urge in her to feel them rose up. His hair was messy from her work and she could see her faint bite mark on his neck. How she wanted to rub against him again but the guilty thought laid down the pleasurable ones.

Hitsugaya turned toward the cabinet next to him and opened it. He pulled out a dry towel and a robe.

"Here," Hitsugaya passed her the dry towel. Karin reached for it but she still held onto the wet towel that covered her bare body. Hitsugaya laid the robe down on the sink and headed toward the bathroom door.

"I'll go make us hot tea." Hitsugaya smiled warmly at her before he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Hitsugaya mixed the drink with a teaspoon, lost in thoughts. _Was she regretting it?_

They had been slightly high on the wine after dinner. He had cooked the main course and she had made dessert. She had worn her standard uniform and so did he with his haori. It was supposed to be a simple dinner, an evening to spend some quality time together alone. That was it. But it had not stopped there.

One moment, they were in each other's arms, talking and laughing, sipping his favourite red wine and discussing their thoughts. The next moment, Karin was sliding her hands into his uniform and running her hands over his chest and behind his back. It was fine with him. Some physical touch seemed only natural in relationships. Then her lips pressed against his lips and fire exploded as their tongues touched. She pulled herself onto him slowly but steady and he found his hands encouraging her to make it on top of him.

Hitsugaya placed the teaspoon into the sink and grabbed the two mugs. Carefully, he laid them on the kitchen counter and took a seat on the high stool. He looked toward the corridor and waited patiently for Karin to appear.

No sooner had he expected to have her top part to reveal her lime green bra and almost flawless skin. At the touch of her bare shoulders, he slipped his whole hand down her back. The smooth silk touch of her skin enticed him by miles. Their lips were so busy with each other that both of them had no idea that they were building passion like wild fire. Every slight parting of their lips they took the chance to suck in air. Other than that, they were struggling hard to stay alive. It had not occurred to him that they were drowning in each other's lust and both of them made no attempts to swim up for air. Karin pulled him up with one hand and both of them then stood in his living room tearing at each other's lips. Then Karin turned away for a few seconds, leaving Hitsugaya's eyes glowing with deep hunger for her body. Her lips were wet from each other's saliva and if he were not too lost in their world of heat, he would have noticed that the side of her bottom lip was red.

Karin had reached down to the coffee table and picked up her wine glass. She tilted her head back and pulled Hitsugaya toward her neck. He tilted his head to the side and kissed her neck ferociously as she drank the red wine down.

Hitsugaya brought his mug to his lips and sipped the hot liquid.

She took up his wine glass and gave it to him. He tilted his head back and drank it down, the same thing she did only this time; she need not have him pull her to his neck. She was there the moment he tilted his head back.

The way she licked him and kissed his neck, her soft lips trailing his neck with explosive lustful fire, he could not resist her. He was too far-gone. And before he knew it, he was maneuvering her to his bedroom. She kept on pushing him, trying to hurry him so that they could get on with their own private show.

And then he stopped. He slowly pulled way from her in front of his door and looked at her in the eyes. Her grey eyes looked sleepy with lust.

"_Karin…are you sure…we won't go any further?" Hitsugaya asked her, his tone husky and deep, yet it sounded unsure. _

"_No…no we won't go any further. We're just fooling around right?" Karin grinned before she pressed her lips on his neck and pushed him into his bedroom. _

He took of his haori and she pulled off his uniform. As she undressed him, Hitsugaya untied her uniform and it parted to reveal the most gorgeous body he had ever seen in his life. The only body that he had ever seen in his life to be more specific. He only had four seconds to have a good look at it before Karin distracted him again. She lay on top of him, her skin pressed against his.

Hitsugaya sighed as he tried to remember how good it felt. His bare skin against hers, so free and so real, like they were meant to touch each other and feel that overwhelming passion.

For what seemed like a good ten minutes of solid body pressing and embracing, Karin pulled his fingers to her underwear and motioned him to tug it down. Without hesitation, he pulled it off at once. He did what she wanted him to do.

Then things started to go out of hand without knowledge. She took of her bra and though he never got a good look at her breasts, he knew she was fully naked in his arms. In the dark, they got caught into a decision and they chose the one that landed them in an awkward situation.

"Toushirou?"

Hitsugaya broke out of his thoughts and looked up to see Karin standing in front of him with the robe he gave her to wear. Her hair was still wet and her bottom lip slightly puffy.

"Can we…talk about it in the morning?" Karin partially whispered and pleaded. Hitsugaya stared at her for a while before he nodded his head.

Karin slipped under the blanket covers and laid her head down on the pillow. She looked up and her eyes followed Hitsugaya round to the other side of the futon and lifted the blanket. He slid under it and his warm body immediately comforted Karin's cold skin.

"Karin?" Hitsugaya whispered.

"Hmm?" Karin answered as she shifted her eyes toward him.

Hitsugaya pursed his lips together and turned on his side toward her. He put his arm on her stomach and caressed her arm slowly. Karin shifted closer to him and turned on her side so that her back eased into his arms against his chest. She grabbed his arm and hugged it close to her chest.

"What is it?" Karin whispered.

"Nothing," Hitsugaya said as he pushed himself closer to her and reached for the blanket. He pulled it up and both of them snuggled in it till morning.

_We'll talk in the morning…_

_

* * *

_**Please note that I do not support nor discourage pre-marital sex. I am neutral about it. **

**^ ^ Reviews are always welcome! I really love to read reviews because then I know what you guys think of it. **

**It makes me feel good when I have de-stressed people from work when they read my fanfics. I feel happy to have helped take some work off your mind ^ ^**


	2. Chapter 2

Karin opened her eyes slowly as the morning sun greeted her face. She moved her hand from under the blanket to over her face. Slowly she rubbed her eyes and yawned softly. After her little yawn, Karin lay still for a while, her thoughts slowly jogging through her head. Today she had a half day since she gave up half of her off day last week to fill in for the fourth seat officer's squad training. Deciding it was time to get up, Karin turned onto her back and at the corner of her eye, a slow rising of chest caught her attention. She turned her head to her left to see Hitsugaya on his back with his head turned to the left, sleeping soundly. Karin smiled as she gazed at his peaceful frown-free face.

Not wanting to wake him on his off day, Karin slowly got up and gently lifted the blanket covers. Just as she was about to shift out, she noticed she was in just a robe and nothing else.

_I…I slept with him! _Karin's eyes widened as the realization of her no longer being a virgin dawned upon her. Karin looked over at Hitsugaya and the thought of having slept with him and having him be the one to take her virginity caused her two hands to race to her mouth to cover her shock. And then, an aching pain surfaced between her legs. Karin shut her eyes tight as she felt the loss of virginity hammering her reality.

_Oh my god…what have I done? _Karin wondered to herself as she bowed her head into her hands. She, Kurosaki Karin, had slept with Hitsugaya Toushirou, her Captain of the Tenth Division and she was how old?

_I'm 19 right? Well, I'm dead but I'm 19…16 is the legal age right? _Karin tried to find any means of reason to not panic. No matter how hard she tried to reason with herself, Karin felt the surge of regret swimming in her stomach.

_I'm not even married and Hitsugaya…. he's just my boyfriend! I…I can't believe I let myself fall into this…_Karin scrunched up her hair. A warm leg slides across her thigh, Karin turned around to see Hitsugaya turn his back against her, still sound asleep.

Karin bit her lip. _I love him…I really do but…this shouldn't have happened…_

Not wanting to be around when he wakes up, Karin decided to quickly get dress and leave for work. He would definitely look for her later but to deal with him as soon as he wakes up, she could not cope. Slowly, Karin slid from under the covers to off the futon. She cringed at the aching pain between her legs a regretful reminder of her decision she made last night. Quietly, Karin had one hand pull her robe together while the other was busy picking up her uniform. To shower at his place would wake up him so Karin let the robe drop and she slip into her crumpled uniform quickly. Tying her sword around her waist, Karin took one last look at Hitsugaya and then shunpo'd off through the open balcony.

* * *

Matsumoto sat at Hitsugaya's desk and took her time to arrange the new reports for him to review and fill out tomorrow. It was a slightly warm morning and the thought of cutting her hair short went in and out of her head.

"Good morning Matsumoto fuku-taicho," a squad member knocked lightly on the door. Matsumoto looked up and greeted her back.

"Morning Isunamei, any letters?" Matsumoto inquired. Isunamei nodded and proceeded to her Captain's desk. She handed Matsumoto a small pile of envelopes.

"Captain's off today?" Isunamei asked.

"Yup. He won't be in office. Since you're new, if there's anything, look for either your third or fourth seat officer. If they're not around, feel free to look for me," Matsumoto smiled warmly. Isunamei's face glowed at the warm smile.

"Hai, thank you, fuku-taicho," Isunamei bowed. She turned and proceeded towards the door when all of a sudden; she knocked into a body and stumbled back.

"Careful," Matsumoto exclaimed as she got up from her seat. Isunamei rubbed her forehead and lifted her gaze to the person she had bumped into. In front of her was her third seat officer, Kurosaki Karin.

"My apologies Kurosaki-san," Isunamei quickly apologized.

"Nei, don't worry about it Isunamei," Karin smiled meekly. Apologizing once more, Isunamei took her leave.

"You alright Karin?" Matsumoto asked as she sat back down in Hitsugaya's seat. Karin nodded solemnly as she stepped into the office. Matsumoto gave Karin a look.

"What?" Karin looked at Matsumoto.

"I should be asking you. What's wrong? You look miserable," Matsumoto pushed a pile aside.

Karin looked down and inhaled deeply. "Nah nothing, kind of got up from the wrong side of the bed," Karin replied. _Hitsugaya's bed more like it. _

Matsumoto studied her, not believing the reply to her. However Karin looked disturbed enough to not be pushed about it. Deciding to let it drop, Matsumoto returned to arranging the reports on Hitsugaya's desk.

"Can you do me a favour?" Karin stood in front of Matsumoto.

"Yeah sure, what is it?" Matsumoto looked up. Karin pulled out a small sealed envelope from her pocket and handed into to Matsumoto.

"Could you give this to Taicho when you see him. It's kind of important," Karin handed an envelope with no words on the cover of the envelope. Matsumoto took the envelope and looked at it confused.

"Is it work?" Matsumoto asked although she was quite sure it was not.

"Personal stuff," Karin answered quickly.

"Then why don't you give it to him yourself?" Matsumoto asked. At the back of her head, she wondered if Karin and her Taicho had a quarrel. It could be the reason why Karin did not want to see him.

"Just give it to him for me please?" Karin pleaded with her hands clasped together. Matsumoto looked at her. She did not want to be a bringer of any bad news to anyone especially her Captain but the begging face that Karin was giving her was just too good.

"Alright, alright," Matsumoto gave in and slid the envelope into her pocket. Karin thanked Matsumoto and proceeded out of the office.

* * *

Hitsugaya walked past his subordinates as they bowed and greeted him. With his hands folded into the opposite sleeves, Hitsugaya turned around a corner and proceeded straight. He grumbled as the afternoon's temperature slowly rose. It was already noon and it was the first time he had ever woken up at noon. As he headed up the stairs, he thought of last night.

_Karin…why?_

He woke up to her gone in the morning. She left without telling him or leaving a note behind and it had got him worried. Much earlier at three am in the morning, he found her in the shower and when he wanted to talk it over in the kitchen, she wanted to wait till morning. And now, when he wanted to see if she was fine, she was not around.

He recalled the events before they headed to his bedroom. They were laughing and holding each other in their arms, kissing and smiling like the world has never seen sadness before. The way she giggled and teased him in his arms, the way she encouraged him to cut loose and break the rules, it was the first time he had ever experienced something real and something out of which he had grown so accustomed to, the life before he met Karin.

He could see himself laughing, actually smiling brightly for once. She was the only person in his life that was able to make him bring out that sun that was frozen deep beneath the frozen lake of his world. To be honest to his heart, he was happy to have given himself to Karin and entrusted her to be the one to take away his virgin life. He was not sure if it sounded ridiculous. In fact, maybe if it happened to someone else and they told him that, he would have thought they had lost their mind. But now, he knew what it meant to be in love and have your body entrusted to someone you hold dear in your heart.

Now all he wanted to know was if Karin shared the same thoughts.

It hurt to think she might not share the same feelings as him.

Matsumoto sat in her seat. As she read the papers, her mind kept on thinking back of the envelope in her pocket. Every sentence she read in the papers did not make it to her brain. It had completely shut out all other words and the only thing floating in front of her was Karin and the envelope.

It bugged her the whole morning. Karin looked so sad and confused and it worried Matsumoto if Karin and Hitsugaya had a fight. It scared her because if they did, Hitsugaya would be in a very bad mood.

_What if they broke up? _Matsumoto suddenly thought. She dropped her papers onto her desk and her eyes were wide open.

_Oh my god! Did they?! _Matsumoto shouted in her head. It scared her senseless as she thought Hitsugaya's life without Karin. The two of them were perfect for each other and to think that they might have broke up, it was terrifying. She loved them both as one and if the letter held any form of further break up, Matsumoto knew her heart wouldn't let it happen.

Just as she was about to reach into her pocket, Hitsugaya stepped into the office. Matsumoto quickly retracted her hand and placed it on her desk.

"Afternoon Taicho," Matsumoto greeted as she stood up from her seat. She grabbed a teapot from the coffee table and a cup. Hitsugaya took his seat and looked at the pile of reports. His heart was out.

"How come you are in today? Isn't today your off day?" Matsumoto asked as she handed her captain a cup of warm tea. Not interested in tea on such a hot afternoon, Hitsugaya pushed the tea in Matsumoto's hand away.

"No thanks," he replied her solemnly, the same tone and expression Karin shared when she came in the morning.

Hitsugaya opened his drawers and lifted the papers. He rummaged through each drawer, lifting up books and files.

"Looking for something Taicho?" Matsumoto inquired as she leaned forward.

_I'm sure she would leave something for me…_Hitsugaya guessed wildly. The last time they argued she left a note in his drawer. Hopefully this time, she might do the same. He pulled open the third drawer and sighed. It was empty. He pushed the drawer back and got up from his chair. He headed for the door when he stopped and turned to Matsumoto.

"Did Karin come in today?" He asked her.

Matsumoto swallowed. "No, I didn't see her today." She lied. Disheartened, Hitsugaya nodded.

"Thanks. See you later Matsumoto," Hitsugaya walked out of the office with a solemn face.

_Oh…I hate to lie to him like that…_Alone in the room, Matsumoto reached into her pocket and pulled out the envelope from her pocket. For some reason, her instincts told her not to give the letter. Whether it was right or wrong to hold it back, Matsumoto could not bring herself to hand him a letter to her Captain.

_Should I? _

Matsumoto returned to her desk and sat down on her chair. She stared at the sealed envelope and contemplated. Was it wrong? Was it right to interfere in their affairs? Read it or don't?

* * *

Hitsugaya walked about the corridors in the open air. The air was still and sweat was slowly trickling down into his collar. He wanted to see Karin so badly. He missed her and it hurt to think she was avoiding him. Did he hurt her? Did she really regret last night? Did he?

"Hitsugaya Taicho!"

Hitsugaya looked up to the balcony to see Kyouraku and Ukitake waving to him.

"Would you like to join us for some tea?" Ukitake asked.

"Or sake?" Kyouraku lifted a bottle of sake and wore a huge grin on his face.

"No thank you," Hitsugaya replied politely.

"Oh come on! Why so stiff?" Kyouraku laughed. Behind him, Nanao rolled her eyes.

Hitsugaya looked at the sky. It was too hot and it was getting tiresome to find Karin when the air was unbelievably hot and humid.

"Fine, a cup of tea," Hitsugaya decided.

Ukitake poured some sake into Hitsugaya's cup. Hitsugaya looked up at the two. "I thought you said tea?" Hitsugaya asked.

"We ran out," Ukitake lifted an empty teapot.

"Be a sport Hitsugaya Taicho," Kyouraku laughed and lifted his sake in cheers. Ukitake lifted his cup of the remaining tea and the two drank up. Hitsugaya sighed. Since he was here, he might as well have one cup of sake. _Wouldn't hurt to have one. _

_

* * *

_Karin sat in the garden and threw small pieces of bread into the water. She watched the small ducks gobble them up as they raced toward it. She had been there for over an hour and it was the only place that no one would disturb her. She hoped that Hitsugaya would understand how she felt after reading the letter she wrote. It was not a long letter neither was it short and sweet.

The gentle breeze tossed up Karin's hair lightly. Like the wind wished to caress her face, the wind circulated around her and played with locks of her hair. Seated under the three, the sun's rays were sliced into streams of light. A duck hopped onto the back and waddled its way towards Karin's feet. It pecked at her toe and looked at her. With a faint smile, Karin tore a small piece of bread and threw it onto the grass. Happy, the duck quickly scooped up the bread and quacked at her more.

_Greedy fellow. _

"Karin?"

Karin turned around to see Matsumoto behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Matsumoto looked at her confused, but pretty much it was not much of a question since she knew. Karin shrugged her shoulders and lifted half of a bread.

"Feeding the ducks." Karin replied. "What about you?" Karin returned the question.

"I usually come here…ever since Gin's execution," Matsumoto answered her as she took a seat next to Karin.

"Oh," Karin answered as she moved over a bit for Matsumoto. She passed Matsumoto the rest of the bread and the duck pecked at Matsumoto's foot.

"Oi!" Matsumoto lifted her foot.

"He did it to me earlier. He's quite a greedy fellow," Karin laughed. Matsumoto peeled off a small piece and threw it on the ground. At once, three ducks hopped onto the bank and fought with the first duck for the bread.

"So what's up with you little miss moody pants?" Matsumoto peeled another piece of bread and threw it onto the ground.

Karin looked at her and then returned her gaze to the ducks. "Nothing much," Karin said.

"I saw Captain today. He looked really sad when he came into the office. He was looking for you." Matsumoto said.

Karin looked at her and sucked in her lips. "What did you say?"

"I said I didn't see you the whole morning," Matsumoto replied.

Karin sighed. _Thank goodness…_

"And the letter?" Karin asked.

"I left it in his drawer because I had to rush out to the office when you left and I was scared I would forget about it," Matsumoto peeled a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth.

"Oh, thanks," Karin said as she peeled a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth.

"You know…if you want to talk to someone, I'm here. I know my Captain is quite a stubborn piece of work." Matsumoto took out a hair band from her pocket and pulled her hair into a bunch.

Karin sighed. She did need to talk to someone but who would it be? The number one person on her list would be Yuzu but Yuzu was not around. She definitely could not talk to Ichigo about it because he would most probably find Hitsugaya and go kill him. That was what big brothers do and Karin found it so lovable. But no, the situation cannot call for Ichigo's interference.

Matsumoto let her hands fall to her side. Her hair was put into a ponytail while locks of it fell down near her face. It was hot and her neck was getting unbelievably uncomfortable from her sweat. Maybe it was about time she went for a haircut.

"Matsumoto-san…have you ever made a mistake with someone?" Karin asked, hoping it won't give away too much.

Matsumoto looked at her confused. "Made a mistake?"

"Yeah…a mistake," Karin said.

Matsumoto cocked her head to the side and looked at Karin. What did Karin mean by making a mistake? Was she not happy with Taicho? Was she regretting being with him?

"I…I guess not. I haven't had a relationship to really know if I have made a mistake," Matsumoto replied her.

Karin sighed and bowed her head down.

"Are you…thinking of…breaking up with Taicho?" Matsumoto asked with worry and concern. Karin lifted her head up and shook her head.

"No. I wouldn't do that." Karin answered with a reassuring smile before letting it fall. She could tell Matsumoto had her Captain's heart in her heart and that she cared for both of them as much as she cared herself. Her worry on her face immediately told Karin she was concerned for Hitsugaya.

Karin bit her lip. It was not something she could share with Matsumoto. There was no way she could. Could she? Matsumoto was practically the second person to raise Hitsugaya when he became a soul reaper. She was the one who introduced him and convinced him to enter the academy. She was the one that took care of him when he entered the squad. She even had straightened the squad out when they did not give him a chance. As Captain, Hitsugaya never needed the help but Karin knew that he was grateful for it. The basic line was Matsumoto was with Hitsugaya all the way and she was the most loyal person Karin had ever known.

Karin raised her two hands to her face and covered it. Matsumoto looked at her.

"Karin? What could have happened between the two of you that could make both of you so depressed?" Matsumoto firmly asked. She had enough seeing Karin and Hitsugaya look like the world had just rejected them beyond all reasons.

Karin breathed in. If there were one person to really talk to now, it would actually have to be Matsumoto. She could feel her heart tearing itself up inside. It was agonizing and painful and after keeping all her inner thoughts to herself, her heart had little space left to keep itself from toppling over.

"I…sheewpptt with….Tousshhhirooo…"Karin breathed with her hands still plastered on her face. Matsumoto looked at her confused.

"What? Karin, I can't understand what you're saying," Matsumoto said gently. She placed her hands on Karin's hand and gently pushed them down from her face. She held her breath when she saw tears streaming down Karin's face. Her eyes were turning red by the second.

"Karin, why are you crying?" Matsumoto moved herself closer to Karin and placed her arm around Karin's shoulder. She rubbed Karin's back slowly as the poor girl sobbed.

"I spent the night at Toushirou's!" Karin cried.

"Honey, I know that. You guys have sleepovers before, why is this any dif-"

Matsumoto stopped and her eyes went wide.

Karin looked up at Matsumoto whose face went into shock. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said it. I'm such an idiot! I knew it was a mistake but I really didn't think much of it till now!"

Matsumoto snapped out of her shock-frozen face and returned her attention back to Karin. Instead of reverting to scolding or moving away, Matsumoto sat even closer and hugged Karin tightly. She pulled Karin closer and Karin leaned her head on Matsumoto's shoulder. Tears made its way down to Matsumoto's uniform.

"Now, now, it's okay. Just cry it out first, you just let it all out and then when you're feeling better, we'll talk through it okay? Just…just cry. It's okay." Matsumoto rubbed Karin's arm up and down.

"I'm an idiot Matsumoto-san!" Karin cried.

"No you're not Karin-chan. You're not an idiot." Matsumoto rested her chin on top of Karin's head.

"And why's that?" Karin breathed heavily, her voice choked with tears.

"Because I know you are not." Matsumoto answered her softly as she stroked Karin's head motherly. At their feet, the ducks had settled down and nested next to the two pair of feet. One of them looked up and quaked. Matsumoto looked down and sighed.

* * *

Matsumoto lifted her teapot and poured some warm tea into a cup. She glanced over at Karin sitting outside the kitchen with her back to her. Karin had not said anything to Matsumoto once she had stopped crying. As they walked back to Matsumoto's place, they walked in total silence. The truth was she never read the letter. She wanted to but she did not.

As Matsumoto stepped out of the kitchen, she had a tray of two cups of tea and a teapot in her hands. She carefully placed the tray on the table and took a seat on the cushion. Karin kept her eyes looking down and reached for a cup. She could not cry anymore as she had run out of tears to let out. Matsumoto was kind enough to take her back to her house to have their conversation in private. Sometimes Karin wondered why she had never really thought of Matsumoto as someone like Yuzu. Maybe it was her carefree personality at times or her constant shrugging off of paperwork. In fact, it seemed that she had done it so often that it became the shell of Matsumoto. No one really saw what she could really be on the inside. She was indeed the most loyal person to someone, the most matured and understanding and the most caring person Karin knew. In fact, Matsumoto could be motherly and sisterly at times. It depended on how one would see it.

"Karin, before we say anything, I want you to know that whatever you tell me, if you wish to tell me, I will not misjudge you nor will I look at you differently. We're having a girl-to-girl talk and I hope you can temporarily discard my position here." Matsumoto smiled gently.

Karin lifted her gaze off the table and looked up at Matsumoto. Her icy blue eyes shimmered and reflected off a cool yet warm aura.

"So you want to tell me from…the beginning?" Matsumoto pressed lightly.

Karin bit her lip softly. After being alone for so long, maybe it was about time she found someone to confide her feelings in.

"I… went to his place for dinner and… we had a little wine…"

* * *

Ichigo slid open the shoji doors. In front of him was a drunken Kyouraku, a sober Ukitake and the usual stoic Hitsugaya who was apparently holding a cup of sake.

"Ah! Kurosaki Taicho! How nice to see you!" Ukitake chirped.

Ichigo raised his eyes at Kyouraku who seemed to have gone out cold. "Ukitake-san, is this what you call for me?"

"It's not everyday we get the chance to have a little drink now is it?" Ukitake smiled. Hitsugaya felt his insides turn at Ichigo's presence. It was not because he did not like the orange head but more of the fact he was messing with Ichigo's sister and they just slept together.

"Toushirou," Ichigo greeted. Then again, Hitsugaya never really cared about Ichigo since that man refused to address him properly with honorifics.

"Kurosaki," Hitusgaya answered coldly as Ichigo took a seat next to Kyouraku.

"I can't believe you are actually drinking," Ichigo pointed at Hitsugaya's cup. Kyouraku suddenly raised his head and all three turned toward him.

"Ichigo! HO!" And Kyouraku dropped his head back on the table. Ukitake laughed while Ichigo looked at the drunk Captain passed out next to him.

"Neither can I." Hitsugaya answered coolly before sipping the sake.

Just then, a young female shinigami was present outside at the Shoji door.

"Excuse me, is Ukitake Taicho in there?"

Ukitake looked up. "Yes, I am here."

"Unohana Taicho wishes to remind you that you have your monthly checkup today."

Ukitake widened his eyes. "Is that today?"

Ichigo looked at the sickly captain and gave a concerned stare. "Monthly checkup?"

Ukitake waved lightly and slowly got up. "Standard for my health. I guess I get going. It is quite a walk from here to the fourth squad."

"Excuse me, Hitsugaya Taicho, Kurosaki Taicho," Ukitake got up.

"What about him?" Ichigo looked over at Kyouraku.

"He'll wake up on his own. Nanao-chan will come get him later. " Ukitake smiled before making a move leaving Ichigo with Hitsugaya and a very drunk and passed out Kyouraku.

Hitsugaya sipped his sake again. He hated this, being stuck awkwardly with Ichigo, Karin's older brother, older and very protective brother while Kyouraku was passed out next to Ichigo.

"Is this a normal thing for him?" Ichigo looked at Kyouraku.

"Very," Hitsugaya answered.

Ichigo reached for the sake bottle and poured the drink into his small cup. Since he was here, he might as well have a little drink. He should have been here an hour ago but Hinamori insisted he finish his paperwork so she could file them and not worry about them.

"So… how's the squad?" Ichigo decided to strike up a conversation.

"Going well," Hitsugaya answered calmly.

An awkward silence fell upon their shoulders. _Seriously…. I know he is Karin's boyfriend but how does she stand this? _Ichigo thought as Hitsugaya sipped his sake. Maybe this was a good opportunity to get to know the Ice Prince better since it was for Karin's sake. She always did asked him to be closer and if that were her wish, Ichigo would fulfill it. That is if Hitsugaya was just as willing.

"Well since I'm here and he's gone, we might as well drink our fill and have a nice evening," Ichigo smiled and reached for the sake bottle.

Hitsugaya looked at the Captain and sighed. Maybe it was a good opportunity to get to know Karin's brother. She always pestered him about being nicer to Ichigo and getting closer to her family. If that were her wish, he would try. But with the issue with Karin now, he was not sure if he was up to getting to know Ichigo better.

"How is Karin?" Ichigo motioned Hitsugaya to pass him his cup to refill the sake.

"She's….fine," Hitsugaya answered Ichigo.

If Ichigo was being nice enough to refill his sake, Hitsugaya shrugged, he might as well go along and be nice too. Besides, the day just got hotter. He was not going back out in that heat unless he wanted to get a heat stroke.

* * *

**I hope you enjoy it ^ ^ Guess what happens in the next chapter?**


	3. Chapter 3

Hitsugaya had his hand plastered to the side of his face as he swirled his sake. Droplets of sweat slowly trickled their way down to his chin and dripped off onto the table. The weather was getting hotter and hotter and the wind was still. Everywhere felt like an oven it was driving everyone away from the sun. If there were shades spotted, just about anyone would collapse in it, refuge from the sun and heat. Kyouraku was still knocked on the table face-first. Ichigo was trying to keep his head straight after having drunk an insane amount of sake. He had taken off his haori and left it on the floor. Hitsugaya kept his haori on but his hair was falling apart as he sweated profusely. He already had thin locks of his hair falling over in front of his face.

Ichigo lifted another full cup of sake to his lips. He drank half of it down and let out a sigh.

"God how hot can it get?" Ichigo ran his fingers through his sweaty orange hair.

Hitsugaya groaned in discomfort. He too decided to shed his haori and roll up his sleeves all the way to his shoulders to allow more air to grace his skin. Now the two conscious captains were fanning themselves to allow more wind circulation.

"Should we wake him up?" Ichigo looked at Kyouraku.

"Leave him." Hitsugaya answered.

Ichigo shrugged and sighed. "Man, I got so much work to do today and I haven't started. Hinamori is going to be so mad if she finds me." Ichigo spluttered. If Hitsugaya didn't know it any better, Ichigo was close to getting half drunk.

"You and Hinamori, grew up together right?" Ichigo's head swayed back and forth.

"Yeah…" Hitsugaya trailed.

"Well, I…have been meaning to ask…what do you do when she's having her monthly thing?" Ichigo asked.

Hitsugaya stared at him confused. "Her what?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. "When women have their period, their monthly thing. Apparently when she gets it, she becomes really grouchy, like a complete personality swap from her usual self."

Hitsugaya felt surprised at what Ichigo was telling him. He had never seen or heard Hinamori being a grouch. Was it the sake talking or was it for real?

"Last month she slapped the back of my head just for dozing off at the table for ten minutes. Then when her period finished, she placed a blanket on me when I fell asleep." Ichigo's eyes looked heavy with sake.

"I have no idea." Hitsugaya sighed and wiped his face with his hands. He looked at his hands and noticed the amount of sweat he was generating.

"Why do you ask anyway?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Well…you're kind of like her brother right? She's always looking to you as her brother and family so I reckon you might know how to appease her when she's you know…grouchy," Ichigo tilted his head to the side.

"She reminds me a bit of Karin…" Ichigo mindlessly thought.

"Hn…" Hitsugaya replied before shooting down another cup of extremely warm sake.

The heat was getting too hot for Hitsugaya to tolerate. He normally would not resort to such means but everything was getting too much for him. Ichigo snapped his head up at the sudden drastic cooling in the atmosphere. He looked over at Hitsugaya whose body was radiating off reiatsu. It was not a lot of reiatsu to alarm anyone around but it was just enough to relief and lift the heat off their backs. The heat waves from outside started to disappear along with the heat and the sakes were cooling down in no time. After a minute, Hitsugaya poured himself another round of now cool sake.

"Thanks," Ichigo too poured another round of sake.

"Kurosaki…Ichigo…"Hitsugaya looked off to the side, his sake cup on the table.

Ichigo ceased pouring sake mid way and looked up at Hitsugaya.

"Hm?"

Hitsugaya looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with Ichigo.

"What is it, Toushirou?" Ichigo asked. Normally Hitsugaya would correct him immediately but this once, he would dismiss it.

"I…I don't know how to say this…" Hitsugaya started off. _Am I that drunk to consider this? Why am I suddenly into drinking stuff like the two old men? _

"Toushirou?" Ichigo waved his hand in front of Hitsugaya's face that looked lost in thought. Hitsugaya snapped back to reality and his usual frown pulled across. It was a stupid idea, a very stupid decision but for some strange reason, Hitsugaya felt it was somehow the right thing to do. _Whoever else is playing God better find this funny…_

- Half an hour later -

"So you're saying…you guys…have been sleeping over…without me knowing?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Hitsugaya whose hair finally stated its defeat. The white hair young teenage captain had his hair down and flat, unlike its usual straight up egoistic self. Hitsugaya remained fearless though he knew if he blew it with Ichigo, pretty much their resentment to each other would be for eternity considering their life span.

"And how long has this been going on…the sleepover?" Ichigo asked.

"For half a year, I think." Hitsugaya answered.

"And you guys have only been together for…almost a year and a half?" Ichigo questioned again.

"About there…in six months time, it would be two years since Karin's going to turn twenty soon enough," Hitsugaya answered.

Ichigo leaned back a bit and took a deep breath. "Well if Karin's okay with it, I don't see why I shouldn't be."

Hitsugaya stared at Ichigo in disbelief. For a moment he was about to brace himself with certain warning and threats but Ichigo just simply took a shot at his sake. Hitsugaya always knew Ichigo was the one to play Hero and naturally one would think he would explode upon knowing some other man was with his sister, sleeping next to his sister.

"Kurosaki…there's something else…you should know…" Hitsugaya braced himself. Ichigo squinted his eyes a bit before putting his cup back down.

"Your sister and I…we…" Hitsugaya swallowed hard. He was not afraid, in fact, he was not at all afraid of Ichigo. The only thing he was afraid was how Ichigo would take his relationship with Karin from this day onward.

"She and I…slept…together," Hitsugaya managed to put it out. Ichigo cocked his head one side, confused.

"Yeah I know that, you just said it." Ichigo said.

Now it was Hitsugaya's turn to be confused.

"No I didn't. I said we slept over." Hitsugaya corrected.

"I'm not getting you," Ichigo leaned forward, at a complete loss.

"She and I…did more than sleep over." Hitsugaya subtly leant back. It was either Ichigo did not get the whole picture or the sake was just making the gears in Ichigo's head move slower.

Ichigo remained silent for a while, trying to process everything. _It's either the sake…or me…that's slow. _And then it clicked in his head.

"She's pregnant?" Ichigo shouted, his head straight and eyes wide open. Hitsugaya was taken aback at Ichigo's outburst.

"What?! No! She's not!" Hitsugaya exclaimed. Ichigo stared at him for a few seconds before recomposing himself.

"Then what is it?" Ichigo tried to calm himself down.

Hitsugaya stared at Ichigo, bewildered more than ever. Ichigo had just exclaimed about Karin being pregnant and who would not be? But the more pressing thought was how Ichigo became calm when he defended himself saying Karin was not. What was Ichigo thinking before that?

"Wait, Kurosaki, when I told you she and I slept over for awhile now, what were you thinking?" Hitsugaya asked, puzzled.

"Do I have to say it?" Ichigo looked at the young Tenth Squad Captain.

_Is he…on the same page…as I am or does he not get it at all?_

"I would like to say no but then I wouldn't know what you were thinking, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya answered honestly.

Ichigo sighed and placed his hand behind his neck. "For a guy who sure is a lot older than me, you're slow," Ichigo stated.

Hitsugaya felt his eyebrow in need to twitch. _I was just thinking of you being the slow one…_

"I'm just going on a limb here and say, when you said Karin and you were sleeping together,"-

"Sleeping over." Hitsugaya corrected.

"Right, whichever you say, in the real world, humans take it that you two have already hit home run," Ichigo stated.

"Home run?" Hitsugaya wondered. _What the hell does home run mean? _Was it another human term for sleeping together? As if Ichigo read Hitsugaya's mind, Ichigo started to laugh. "God, sometimes I wonder what slang you guys use here."

"I can't believe I am going to say this, but you two are sexually active, am I right?" Ichigo asked.

Hitsugaya was at loss for words for a few seconds. So when Hitsugaya was telling him the whole time about him and Karin sleeping over, Ichigo took it as they had been sleeping or hitting home run for a while now.

"More like…we just…got…active," Hitsugaya felt highly uncomfortable using the word. Maybe that was why humans invented the word 'home run' in order to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of using the two words 'sexually' and 'active'.

"Just? So you mean when you said you two slept over, it was just an innocent sleep over?" Ichigo asked.

_Well there was a lot of touching so I wouldn't call it innocent so much. _

_But he doesn't need to know that._

"Sort of…not entirely…innocent but yeah." Hitsugaya cleared his throat. The awkward conversation started to feeling like it was escalating at an uncomfortable speed.

"Wow, okay, my bad for thinking otherwise." Ichigo apologized.

"And you're okay with it?" Hitsugaya found himself saying it.

Ichigo stared at Hitsguaya in disbelief. "Y-Yeah…why?"

Hitsugaya found this very confusing. Ichigo was taking this too lightly for his liking.

"I mean, wouldn't you be upset that your sister and I already had done it?" Hitsugaya scratched his head.

"You might want to tone down on your reiatsu, it's getting a bit too chilly in here," Ichigo could feel a strong circulation of cold air rushing up his sleeves, chilling his sweaty skin.

Hitsugaya quickly recomposed himself at the realization of how much reiatsu he was emitting just out of confusion and shock. The rushing of cold air came to a still and all there was, was just cold air around the two, keeping the heat at bay.

"Look Toushirou, if Karin's okay with it, I don't see why I should be concerned. I mean she's turning twenty. She's not a kid, she's an adult and thus being an adult, I respect the decision she makes with you." Ichigo said wisely.

Hitsugaya stared at Ichigo for a while. "What if I told you she's not okay with it?" Hitsugaya looked down.

Ichigo stopped reaching for a refill of sake. He noticed the concerned expression on Hitsugaya. The guy looked down and out. Maybe it was the reason why he was drinking sake in the first place. He did found it odd to find Hitsugaya with Ukitake and Kyouraku drinking sake. Normally Ichigo would put a guy against the wall in a second with that sentence but the way Hitsugaya looked, and knowing Hitsugaya all to well, Ichigo knew he was not that kind of guy.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. His little sister was regretting it?

"I don't know. I told her that I'll only do it when she's ready and last night, I thought she was because she didn't stop me." Hitsugaya started.

"Go on," Ichigo said. Hitsugaya looked off to the side.

"She left this morning without telling me and she's been avoiding me ever since. Well I can't really say avoiding since the heat is what really keeping me at bay from trying to find her." Hitsugaya's voice dripped with sadness that Ichigo found it particularly scary. Then again, which guy would not be sad after realizing the girl they loved regretted their actions.

"I'm not an expert on my sisters or women but so far, I've only been taught there are two types. One would stay in bed and one would leave. The one that stays knows very well what she's doing, obviously. The other most probably did it all out of the heat of the moment and when it's all over, she's scared what happens next. I'm taking Karin's in the latter." Ichigo proceeded to pour more sake into Hitsugaya's glass cup.

"Thanks…I think she's regretted having given up her virgin life to me." Hitsugaya spoke solemnly.

"What about you?" Ichigo asked.

Hitsugaya took the cup and looked into it.

* * *

Karin lay in her bathtub and stuck her legs out. After a long talk with Matsumoto in the damned heat, Karin felt so much better. It was surprisingly good how Matsumoto can give her some helpful advice and tips on relationships being that Karin had no recollection of Matsumoto being in a relationship before. _Or maybe she has a secret one…_

Karin grabbed her luffa and scrubbed her arm as the fragrance of her bubble bath floated in the air. The night had brought some relief to the heat and the cool water of the bubble bath had a nice ending to the extremely hot heat wave in Soul Society. As she scrubbed her arms, Karin thought back on Matsumoto's words.

"_My Taicho may be a person whose confidence can never be stabbed but today, I just saw that it could be by you only."_

Karin sighed. Was Hitsugaya that upset over her? Did he really felt sad at the thought of her own regrets.

"_Do you really regret it?" Matsumoto poured some tea. _

"_I…I don't know. I mean…I love him, I really do but I just felt that I gave away too much and I can't get it back."_

"_Why are you afraid? Or what are you afraid of?_

Karin knew that at that question, she had no answer. What was she afraid of?

"_Are you afraid of getting your heart broken?"_

"Am I?" Karin asked herself.

"_Men and women put their lives on the front lines everyday in Soul Society, so if I were you and I knew I loved this man from the very depths of my heart, I would have stayed in bed." Matsumoto smiled. _

That very last sentence struck a cord in Karin. It had gotten her thinking deeply about her feelings for Hitsugaya. She loved him greatly. In fact, this was her first real relationship and to all honesty, she loved every second of it. Their secret sleepovers that consisted of a lot of kisses and not just on the lips, the freedom to touch each other without worry of others seeing as they pressed on each other's body, the snuggle of a good make out session, it was like Heaven. But after that night where she finally nailed her virgin life, was it all worth giving up? A huge part of her said yes it was worth it because Hitsugaya was a man you can never find in the world of the living. He was the man she had a crush on for two over years before they got official. He was the only man that could make her cry. He was the only man capable of breaking her heart.

_Would he? _Karin's mind wondered. _No. _Her heart told her.

Like the heart always had done, it took Karin's memories back to last night. Karin rested her head back and closed her eyes.

"_Oh hahaha I saw you smile. You couldn't hold it!" Karin stumbled onto Hitsugaya with a glass of wine in her hand. _

"_No, I purposely blew it," Hitsugaya pressed his nose against Karin with his glass of wine in hand, three quarters gone. His smile was genuinely happy and his laughter was crystal clear and attractive. Karin pressed her chest onto his chest and laughed some more._

"_You lost! Admit it Hitsugaya Toushirou! You lost against me," Karin licked his nose before turning her head round and taking a big gulp of her wine. _

"_How in the world did you come up with this game anyway? It's so childish," Hitsugaya proceeded to finish his wine before placing it on his coffee table and returning his attention to Karin. _

"_We all have to be childish sometimes." Karin giggled. _

"_I don't do childish," Hitsugaya smiled while Karin slipped her hands behind his neck and played with his hair. _

"_Of course. We're adults. But there's no stopping us for behaving a little off hmm?" Karin purred. _

And no sooner than they thought, they were on Hitsugaya's bed ripping each other's uniforms off. He was hesitant at first but Karin recalled her being quite impatient and excited. He obediently did as she wanted but stopped her several times when she asked for more of him. He reminded her several times where their actions could lead. She had not cared at that point.

"_I'm a jerk, a real jerk," Karin slapped her hand on her forehead. _

After her bath, she threw on her oversized shirt that looked like a nightdress on her. She pulled on her robe and headed out of her house. As quick as shunpo could take her, she zipped down through the air and stopped right outside Hitsugaya's house. She remained still for a while, trying to sense his reiatsu.

_He's sleeping… _She thought as she felt a calm shallow flow of his reiatsu.

She slowly made her way round to his window. The curtains flapped as the night breeze tossed them up playfully. On her toes, she placed her hand on his windowsill and poked her head into his house. There he was, alone in bed, his back facing her. She could see his hair was flat on his head and his blanket covering only up to the band of his shorts. His chest protected by his white t-shirt was left exposed. Karin sighed. How she wished she could just walk in there and lay down next to him.

Just as she gazed at her boyfriend, she felt a sudden rush of cold night air swirl upward from under her legs, tossing her oversized shirt and robe up. Karin squeaked and quickly flattened her robe.

"Stupid…argh…." Karin grumbled as she held her robe down and waited for the wind to cease. Just as she thought she had it under control, a blast of cold wind blew against Karin's back, sending a rush of icy shivers down her back. Not thinking twice, Karin scrambled over the window and fell ungracefully into the bedroom, head first.

Hitsugaya woke up startled at the sudden commotion. He whipped around with his hands outstretched, ready to cast a kido spell to restrain his trespasser. But the moment he noticed that midnight black hair, his hand dropped. He rubbed his eyes, making sure he was not dreaming. He stared at Karin while she got onto her knees and leaned forward, her hands on her head.

"Ow…" Karin groaned in pain. She had landed headfirst and she felt the pain ringing through her head. Just then, another strange blast of cold wind whirled in and blew against Karin. The same winter icy brush snaked under Karin's shirt and stroked her back. Karin jumped and made a dive toward Hitsugaya's bed. She shot under the blanket and pulled the covers up to her neck.

As soon as she got into the bed, the wind stopped. _That's strange…_ Karin wondered to herself. Realizing where she was, Karin turned around to see a very surprised Hitsugaya staring at her.

"H-hi," Karin greeted.

Hitsugaya shook his head. After his long talk with Ichigo, he had decided to let Karin be and let her sort out her thoughts. When she was ready, she would come to see him. However he had not expected her to come see him in such a manner, not to mention at one am in the morning.

Karin noticed Hitsugaya was still at loss for words. Embarrassed at her entrance, Karin smiled sheepishly. "I…was feeling…a little lonely," She nodded and spread her hands across the blanket.

"Eh…thought of joining you." Karin smiled awkwardly, reaching for the top of her head to rub. She felt a bump and pain shot through her body.

"Ow!" Karin leaned forward, this time with two hands on her head.

Remembering how badly she fell, Hitsugaya took no time to shift closer to her and pull her close to him. He took hold of her hands and put them down. He hushed her silently and placed his hand on her head. With a silent murmur, his hand glowed warmly.

"You've got quite a bump here." Hitsugaya said. Karin tensed up as the kido did its work.

"It's okay. It'll be gone soon enough." Hitsugaya rubbed her shoulder with assurance with his free hand. Karin felt her cheeks warm as his breath stroked her face. She inhaled his bodily scent, a mixture of cool, fresh winter and flowers. He always had this beautiful fragrance and it made her want to just lay her head at his shoulder, her nose at his neck.

"Karin?"

Karin snapped out of her trance. She was too caught up in his scent that she had not realized her lips were a few centimeters away from his neck. Hitsugaya froze as he felt her gasp. He was too caught up in her presence in his bedroom that he had not realized she had her face at the crook of his neck. He felt her pull away from him and she reached for the top of her head.

"Thanks," Karin said as she patted her head.

"Um, you're welcome," Hitsugaya lowered his hands to his side. The two remained in awkward silence, unsure of what to say to the other.

"Sorry…that I woke you up." Karin apologized, her head down. _I come here and I've got nothing to say. I'm the dumbest idiot in Seireitei!_

Hitsugaya kept his turquoise eyes on her and a loving smile broke onto his lips. She looked like she was scolding herself in her head. She had come to see him and it looked she had been watching him sleeping through his window. Normally that would look like stalking if she were not in a relationship with him. A good feeling snowed lightly on his heart as he saw Karin's face of embarrassment flare up. Before Karin could look up at him, Hitsugaya wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to his chest. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his tousled hair brushed against her head

"I'm sorry…" Hitsugaya said softly, his voice barely heard as he pressed his mouth against her shoulder while tightening his hold around his girlfriend's waist.

"Baka…I should be apologizing to you…" Karin said softly. She inched a little away from Hitsugaya signaling him to let go of his hold. As he loosened his arms around her, Karin turned to face him and gently cupped his face. She gazed into his turquoise eyes and let her hands slide to the back of his head.

"I kept on pressing for more that night. I should have known better than to force you to submit to me and then take the blame for my regrets. I'm sorry… will you forgive me?" Karin asked, her forehead touching his. Hitsugaya smiled and reached for her waist.

"Of course. How could I not?" He smiled. "Can I ask you something?" Hitsugaya continued.

Karin nodded her head.

"Did you really regret what we did?" Hitsugaya asked. Karin's smile immediately dropped.

"Oh sorry… I won't bring it up anymore," Hitsugaya quickly said as he released his arms around her waist.

Suddenly, Karin launched herself against Hitsugaya, forcing him to fall on his back. Luckily his futon cushioned him. Karin laid herself on top of Hitsugaya and planted her lips onto his. She passionately kissed him as she combed through his hair. No sooner than her unexpected move, Hitsugaya returned her kisses with doubled passion. His mind flew into a frenzy of need and desperation, as he hungrily wanted more of her lips. Needing to breathe after Hitsugaya practically grabbed her lips with his, Karin pulled away for a bit and let out a soft laughter. She returned to place a sensual kiss on his lips before gazing into his handsome turquoise eyes while she rested comfortably on his chest. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her.

"Toushirou…?"

"Hmm?" Hitsugaya answered her whilst he gazed into her eyes.

"Do you regret doing it with me" Karin asked.

"Baka…" Hitsugaya chuckled as he reached to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ears. "I only regretted not having told you before you left that what we had done had to be the happiest memory I've ever had in my life," Hitsugaya cupped Karin's face.

"Really?" Karin lightly scrunched up his shirt in her fingers.

"Yes, really. And if it is not too bold of me to say this, I had been waiting for a long time now." Hitsugaya smiled.

"As in?"

"Waiting for you, the love by my side, to be the one to take away my virgin life… no matter how corny that sounds." Hitsugaya said. Karin giggled. She tilted her head to the side and rested her chin on his chest.

"And what about you?" Hitsugaya asked, hoping deeply she would finally answer him.

Karin pulled herself up against him and rested her head next to his head; her midnight hair stroked the side of his face.

"The only thing I regret now is that we did it when we were half drunk." Karin answered him. She lifted her head up and looked down at him.

"What does that mean then?" Hitsugaya asked, unsure what she truly meant besides what she had said.

"It means when we do it again, it would be without the wine, or any other alcoholic drinks. How's that?" Karin grinned.

"Are you sure?" Hitsugaya checked. Karin nodded her head, very sure of what she wanted.

"After the second round, I won't have regrets. What say you?" Karin asked.

"Sounds really good to me." Hitsugaya reached for her head and massaged the back of her head tenderly.

As the night stars glimmered upon the quiet sleepy house, Hitsugaya kept his arms firmly around his Karin. In the end, everything had turned out fine. In fact, it had turned out better than either of them had expected.

* * *

"I never thought you would intervene like that." Same a strong feminine voice from a tree branch right outside Hitsugaya's window. Behind the tree, a teal hair warrior with eyes of ice stepped out but remained in the shadows of the tree. He looked up to see a womanly figure sitting in the shadows on the branch. Her long slim and slender mermaid tail swayed back and forth as she combed through her long hair that swirled around her waist and arms. Her stormy coloured eyes gazed down upon the heavenly dragon warrior.

"Greetings," The Dragon greeted.

The mermaid sighed as she let go of her comb and it dematerialized in mid air. With a slight push, she swam out of the shadows of the tree revealing her full body. Hyourinmaru merely raised an eyebrow as he watched her bathed in the moon's light. Her dark blue long tail swayed back and forth as she hovered up right. From her mid back down to the split ends of her tail, a pail blue fin lined perfectly in the middle while her sides had several rounded fins. On the sides of her head near her ears, translucent layers of faint blue fins with faint stripes sharply stuck out from her hair. Her top half humanoid body was adorned with exotic silver tattoos and her breasts were covered by blue skin with black stripes that lined down to the back of her hips. The rest of her skin was of normal fair human skin colour.

"Greetings, Hyourinmaru," The mermaid smiled as her long black hair floated on the wind's ride. The serene beauty of her face was intoxicating and alluring to all who saw her, including that of spirits. Yet the nature of her powers lay dangerously silent behind her smile.

"I say you did a good job to make your master happy," The Siren observed as she turned to look into the bedroom to see the sleeping couple.

"Not to mention the happiness of my mistress," The spirit muttered to herself at the sigh of Karin's peaceful face.

"I merely sped things up. I take no credit." Hyourinmaru spoke deeply. The mermaid crossed her arms. Hyourinmaru watched the mermaid with frosted eyes.

"May I know your name, Zanpaktou?" Hyourinmaru asked, intrigued by the exotic spirit. He had seen her many times and crossed swords with her but never had he heard Karin release her.

The mermaid turned to look at him. She liked to keep her name a mystery until people found out naturally by hearing her mistress call for her, and she made no exceptions for good looking ones.

"I rather not tell," The mermaid lifted her head up slightly.

"And why so?" Hyourinmaru asked.

"Because I think it is beneath of me to reveal my name without my mistress first introducing me. I should at least give my mistress that proper respect." The mermaid answered the Dragon.

"Fair enough," Hyourinmaru commented.

The mermaid turned away from the window and swam toward Hyourinmaru.

"You know… you take after your master." The mermaid stopped in front of Hyourinmaru.

"Take after what?" Hyourinmaru asked as the mermaid studied him intently.

The mere closeness intensified the beauty of her face and the near nakedness of her body. It was hard enough to keep a straight face when she had little or none to cover her while he was fully clothed. It was temptation served to him on a silver platter and he dared not deny that he had no interest in her, nor would he openly admit.

The mermaid remained quiet for a while, her face straight, revealing no form of expression or emotion. Up close the warrior had an alluring nature of his own. His ice armored hands and legs got her mind begging him to touch her waist and arms. She could not deny that he had effortlessly captured her attention. If she could guess, he was probably a very good pleaser.

After a good minute of silence and a little of fantasizing, the mermaid turned away from him gracefully.

"His good looks." The mermaid grinned to herself as she swam away, leaving Hyourinmaru to digest her answer. As she faded into the night, Hyourinmaru revealed a smile before fading off and returning back to his domain in his master's home.

_It's a start._

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**3 Shot COMPLETE!!** **:} Finally!**

**You guys have witnessed the appearance of Karin's zanpaktou. Wanna guess what she can do? **

**In order to find out what is her shikai ability and her name, look out for more new stories coming your way. **

**Up next, the completion of Meet The Granny ^ ^**

**Comments and reviews please!**

**Who wanna see some Hyourinmaru lovin? :} come on, a little romance in his life is quite interesting.  
**


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